Zeus and Barbies by Tom Franco

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Found objects, mixed media – Mexican wooden mask, Barbie dolls, jade stone, wood, and paint.  

This piece was an exploration of how I found the Barbie dolls completely stripped of their clothing and at a cost of $0.50 each.  This really struck me as a love-hate reaction to these naked dolls and compelled me to explore it further.  There is an attraction to explore the human figure and even to collect toys yet a weirdness of how kids might think and play with such dolls and how it affects their self-image.  At the same time, the Barbie was a cutting-edge toy when it came out and gave young girls a way to play with feminine toys for the first time.  Matched up with the larger sized Mexican mask it struck me as a very creepy juxtaposition which I felt captured the feeling of my initial reaction.  So many Barbie dolls in one place made for a great Barbie beard.  I was just trying to imagine what kind of a being would be able to have such a beard and hold that space of tension and reflection and I settled on Zeus as a loose interpretation.